Evernight: as told by Lucas
by monkeysRrandom
Summary: Evernight through the eyes of everybodies favorite vampire hunter, Lucas Ross. NEW CHAPTER AND SUMMARY!
1. Prologue

**Orignally, there was a really nice Author's Note that went with this chapter, but I accidentally deleted it and I'm not even sure if it got posted in the first place. Grrrrr.....Anyway, I think it went something like this: "This is my first fanfic...be nice....review...enjoy....yada yada yada"**

**Disclaimer: I don't remember what I put here either. I think it went something like this: I DO NOT, HAVE NEVER, OR WILL EVER OWN EVERNIGHT. **

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I was standing, staring out a window in the late great Professor Ravenwood's house, watching as that old crone Bethany's car pulled away. I sighed and clenched my fists. I hated watching one of those…things get away. Not that I had any choice. Nope, I had to act civil and pretend to be clueless in order to infiltrate Evernight Academy. Even though it killed me to admit it, Eduardo was right (for once):

If the vampires were suddenly letting humans into their precious school, somebody needed to find out why. And that somebody was me. And yes, you did read that right. Vampires.

Yes, there are really vampires in the world. Don't get too excited, they don't sparkle in the sun and not one of them revere human life. God, those books disgust me. There is no such thing as a good or beautiful vampire, and none of them would ever fall for a human.

At least, that's what I thought back then.

I'm Lucas Ross, vampire hunter. I'm part of an organization dedicated to wiping out them and things like them called Black Cross. Just like my mother, and her father, and his father, and _his _father--well, you get the point. Just like my dad. Part of a Legacy, whether I like it or not.

Sometimes that legacy really sucked. I'd never been to school before, never had any regular friends, and whenever I would start to get close to anybody our cell would have to move and I'd never see that person again; so no real girlfriend, either.

So there I was, brooding by a window when I heard two voices shout behind me, "Happy 19th Birthday, Lucas!"

"Huh?" I whirled around. Two people were standing there, holding a chocolate cupcake with a lit candle sticking out of it. They were a pretty strange pair, too; a tiny old Asian man with bifocals standing next to a black girl twice his height wearing a hoodie and a crooked grin. But they were my closest friends. "It's not my birthday."

"No," The girl, Dana, began, "But you'll be starting Evernight on the actual day, so we decided to celebrate a week early."

"Nineteen is an extremely important birthday." Mr. Wantanabe informed us solemnly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Seriously? Because when I turned nineteen, you just patted my back and gave me the same fortune cookie crap that you gave me the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that,"

"Another year in this life is another step toward the next one." Mr. Wantanabe interrupted wistfully before she could go any farther. He looked sad, and I wondered why.

Dana looked calculating, and I wondered about that, too. But for totally different reasons. "You are absolutely right, as usual. This is an extremely important birthday for our boy, since those Evernight vamps will probably make it the last he ever has."

"Shut up." I growled and shoved her. She shoved me back and we both laughed. But there was an edge to our laughter, or at least to mine. There was always that any birthday could be your last when you were part of Black Cross. _Is it nice,_ I wondered for only the millionth time,_ to be able to watch someone you care about walk away without part of you thinking that that might be the last time you ever see them? Like Dad…_

"How much you wanna bet?" Dana's voice brought me down to earth a bang.

"What are you talking about?"

"How much you wanna bet on that? Fifty bucks _out of pocket _says you'll have to leave before finals." Mr. Wantanabe rolled his eyes, but I winced. Ouch. Out of pocket meant our own money, not the Black Cross's. Technically, we weren't supposed to have any of our own money and what we did have was only to be used if it helped the Black Cross. However, I'd been hording whatever loose change I could get my hands on since I was four years old, and that's not much. If I lost the bet I would lose more than half of it.

"If I lose the bet, then I'll probably be dead and you won't be able to collect."

She shrugged. "If that happens, I'll settle for a moral victory. But it won't. You'll make it out. You're a good hunter, just a lousy detective."

"Wow Dana, thanks for the support." I said sarcastically. Although it did make me feel better, in a weird sort of way. I stuck my hand out. "You're on."

"Teenagers." I heard Mr. Wantanabe sigh while Dana and I shook hands. "Oh Lucas, we almost forgot!" He held the cupcake up to my face. "Make a wish."

I thought for a second, and then blew, hard. The candle went out instantly and they both cheered. "What'd you wish for?" Dana asked eagerly.

"That you wouldn't get to pissed off about me taking your money like this." She tried to punch me, and I barely managed to duck. Mr. Wantanabe shook his head but laughed along with us.

Later, after Dana had eaten more of my birthday cupcake than I did, I thought about what I really wished for. It was silly, stupid, and I was glad I hadn't told them. I had wished for something that was mine; that truly belonged to me. Something precious and beautiful completely my own.

I was really, really glad that I didn't tell them. It made me sound like a girl, even in my own head. Still…

It's seems sort of ironic, looking back. How was I supposed top know that life was going to give me just that very soon.

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	2. Meet Bianca pt 1

**I'm sooooooo sorry it took me so long to update. Computer issues, lots of school work (ugh), I'm a sloooow typer, and this month has been crazy. I don't think I like this chapter very much because my writing was so choppy, but it could have been worse. I had to cut the chapter in half so it wouldn't end up being rambly, too. **

**If you like this chapter, then it is dedicated to FireE21, ..x, CloudedMindx, LOLhaily, crazyperson17, Eb17, and Phoenix Rain for reviewing. If you hate this chapter its dedicated to that rabid bunny from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Or maybe the moose...**

**By the way, Lucas isn't crazy. He just thinks a lot. But sometimes he thinks hes crazy.**

**Disclaimer: I'm on FANfiction. If I owned Evernight I wouldn't be on FANfiction. **

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_I'm running, faster than I ever thought I could. I don't know why, but my life depends on it. Insanely, there's a part of me that wants to turn back._

_I realize I'm in the woods somewhere. Weaving in and out of trees, feeling branches scrape my face and arms. I can't stop, can't ever stop. Then suddenly, I do. My legs have stopped moving, and it's like they're caught in cement._

_I look down, and realize that I'm sunk in mud up to my ankles. Sink farther, now it's up to my knees. I try to pull them out, but it only makes me sink even more. It's up to my waist now. I want to shout for help, for anybody. But if I do, _they'll _kill me. In a minute, the stuff is up to my elbows. That's when I realize; I'm going to die anyway._

I yawned and rubbed my eyes, glaring around me. I was in the forest surrounding Evernight, and I couldn't help but think how much it looked like the woods in my dream. Then I sighed and marched forward. When you're about to walk straight into the lion's den, flashing back to nightmares you had while dozing on a bus is a pretty dumb move.

My mom, Dana, and Mr. Wantanabe had gotten up early (well, stayed up late, actually) to say goodbye, give some last minute advice, and in Dana's case, make sure to remind me of a certain bet one last time. Then I'd gotten on the bus and after a _six-freaking-hour-ride _made it to Riverton, the town near Evernight. School didn't start for hours, so I decided to do a little 'exploring'.

_Focus Ross, you're here on a mission. Act like it! _Crap,don't you just hate it when the little voice in your head starts to sound like your stepfather? And I just now realized how insane that sentence sounds. I almost told it to go away, too, but I thought that would make me even crazier than I already was.

If only I knew.

_Trickle, trickle. Trickle. _Running water. I tried to find where the noise was coming from. Sure enough, there was a small river running between the trees. I filed that away for future reference. I decided to start walking east and see how far the river went. Trust me, things like that can mean life or death when you're hunting vampires. Not having a plan was how Dad…

_But I'm not going to think about that._ I thought firmly. _Wow, I _really_ need to stop talking to myself. Maybe Dana has a point._ That was when I heard the running.

Instantly, I went still. Barely breathing, I strained my ears. At first, I wasn't sure if I'd really heard it or if I was just being paranoid. Then the noise got louder, like whoever it was, was getting nearer. It was still pretty soft, though, and I could only figure out two things:

1) There was only one runner;

2) The person was either a very heavy vampire out for a morning jog or a human running for their life.

_Crap, _I thought.

I sank into the shadows and waited. Soon, a girl came into view. At least, it _looked _like a girl. She was still pretty far off, and all I could see was her red hair, practically the color of blood. She got a little closer.

_She's not a vampire. She can't be. _I'm not sure why I thought that. Maybe it was just the way she ran. Vamps have a certain way of running—and of walking—and of moving in general. Like the hunting animals you see on Discovery Channel, always ready to pounce. This girl, though, she ran like a girl. Not very gracefully, and not very well, either. As far as I could tell, there was no way in hell she was a vamp. But if she wasn't a vampire, then…._somebody's chasing her._

And I shot off after her.

Looking back, I'm not sure _why _I followed her. Black Cross training tells you not to run after the person being chased. Common sense, Mom, and my step dad/boss/biggest-pain-in-my-ass Eduardo would have told me to wait for what was chasing her and ambush it, but obviously, none of them were there. I decided to follow my instincts. For once.

I chased after the girl, cussing mentally when she suddenly picked up the pace. And she was _fast. _But I was faster; I tripled my speed.

_Closer, closer…Yes! _I thought as I tackled her. "Unh!" She squeaked. She fell down and I landed on top of her, covering her mouth. I didn't want whatever was chasing her to notice us.

After I checked the direction we had come from for any nearby vampires, I looked down. The girl's face was flushed and her eyes were wide and terrified. _If I didn't know any better, I'd say the thing she was running from was right on top of her. _I looked back behind me to see if the vamp had caught up to us yet. It hadn't. Weird.

I shifted a bit. We were in a pretty awkward position, with her on her back and me laying on her. Still, I wasn't going to let her up until I was sure we were safe.

"Did you see who was after you?" I moved my hand to let her answer.

She stared at me. And raised her eyebrows. And stared a little more. "You mean, besides you?"

"Me?" I asked, totally confused. I checked behind us again. Still nothing. "You were running from someone," _I thought, _"Weren't you?"

She shook her head. "I was just running. There was nobody after me but you."

Well, Damn. "You mean you thought—" I jerked back. "Oh, hell. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to—Man, I must have scared you to death." It made sense, now that I thought about it. No wonder she had looked so afraid when I tackled her.

"You were trying to _help?_" It didn't sound like she believed me.

I leaned in close. For some reason, I felt the need to convince this girl that I was one of the good guys. "I know I must've freaked you out, and I'm sorry. I really thought…" I probably would have kept apologizing for at least fifteen minutes if the girl hadn't tilted her head up, pointed her finger at me, and said, "You—just—shut—up."

I shut up.

She leaned back and pressed her hands over her eyes. I decided that that was probably just her way of dealing with what had happened and left her alone. I studied her while I waited.

_Hey, she's hot. _Then I mentally slapped myself. I was here on a mission, and when it came to Black Cross, girls were never anywhere close to a priority. _Still…_

It was actually pretty surprising that I hadn't noticed before. I mean, it wasn't like she was supermodel gorgeous or anything, but her face kind of reminded me of the old black-and-white movie actresses. And she may not have been a size zero, but she had plenty of curves without being fat. I liked that more than I probably should have. She wasn't much younger than me, probably sixteen or seventeen, and almost definitely a student. _Sucks for her._

_That was a very poor choice of words._

She kept laying there for a long time, taking deep breaths. I felt extremely guilty. Poor girl must have been freaking terrified. Eventually she sat up and looked at me.

"Why did you tackle me?"

It's a good thing I don't blush, or my face would have turned as red as her hair. "I thought we needed to take cover. To hide from whoever was chasing you, but that turned out to be, uh, nobody."

I looked down at my shoes. She didn't say anything for a second. "You're a student here at the school."

"About to be, anyway. You?" I mumbled, even though I already knew the answer.

She nodded again, then shook her hair down. Before she could pin it back up, I saw that it was pretty long. "This is my first year." I'd already figured that part out, too. "My parents got jobs as teachers here, so I'm stuck."

_Wait, what?! _I tensed up instantly. If her parents were teachers…

…and all the teachers were vampires…

…but the vamps couldn't have kids, could they? ...

…what if the whole family was turned…

I studied her face again, wary this time. There was something in the way she was looking at me made her seem sweet and innocent—vulnerable, even. Total opposite of a vampire. Every instinct I had told me that she needed to be protected. Taken care of.

_I bet those "parents" of hers stole her when she was a baby so that they could play house. _The thought made me see red. But the girl was starting to look at me funny, so I shook it off and held out my hand. "Lucas Ross."

She shook it, looking bemused. "Oh. Hey. I'm Bianca Olivier." Her hand was small and warm.

"Your pulse is racing." It was. I felt terrible. _Might as well get down to business. _"Okay, if you weren't running from an attacker, why were you running like that? Because that didn't look like a morning jog to me."

Bianca looked sort of embarrassed. "I got up early to-well, to try and run away."

_Bingo. Abusive vampire parents. _I tried to look for bruises (or _bite _marks) but she had on that long sleeve shirt and jeans. "Your parents treat you bad? Hurt you?"

"No! Nothing like that." Now Bianca looked mad. She narrowed her eyes and gave me a death glare. It took her as sec to calm down and explain. "But I don't want to go to school here. I liked our hometown, and besides, Evernight Academy is—it's so—"

"Spooky as hell." I offered.

"Yeah."

I didn't blame her. Going to a school full of vampires, whether she realized it or not; I'd run away, too. "Where were you going to go? Did you have a job lined up, something like that?"

Part of Black Cross training is to notice even the smallest details. That's how I couldn't help notice that Bianca's eyes sparkled when she blushed. "Um, no. I wasn't really running away. Just making a statement. Sort of. I thought if I did this, my parents would finally get how much I don't want to be here, and maybe we could leave."

Something about the way she said that made me flash back to when I was little and I grinned. Looks like me and Bianca were more alike than I thought. I grinned even wider and watched Bianca's face light up. "Like me with my sling shot."

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**Review, or this chapter will be dedicated to the red telletubby *shivers* God, I hate that thing.**


	3. Meet Bianca pt 2

**Hi! I'm _ba-ack_! Let me start off saying how really-super-sorry I am about not updating sooner. First: I was being lazy. Second: my English teachers gave out to major essays AND I've had to do research for her and my science teacher. Finally: Microsoft Word messed up so I couldn't write for awhile. But I'm here now and I promise, cross-my-heart-hope-to-die promise, that it won't be this long before I update again. Thanks to everybody who hasn't given up on me yet. Y'all are awesome.**

**By the way, I hope this is OK. Since I'm not a guy, I'm not sure I got guy pov right. I tried.**

**Enjoy!**

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"_Like me with my slingshot."_

Bianca looked at me, eyebrows raised. _Probably wondering about my sanity. _But all she said was,"What?"

"Back when I was five, I thought my mom was being mean to me, so I decided to run away. Carried my slingshot with me because I was a big strong man, you see." Bianca giggled and I grinned even wider. It felt weirdly good to be telling this story to somebody non-Black Cross. Even if that somebody _was_ a stranger I had just tackled. "Could take care of myself. I believe I also took a flashlight and a package of Oreos."

"I think you packed better than I did."

"I swaggered out of the house" Well, safe-house, actually; but she didn't need to know that. "Where we were staying and took myself all the way to…the far corner of the backyard. There I made my stand. Stayed out there all day, until it started to rain. I hadn't even thought to bring an umbrella."

"The best laid plans…" Bianca sighed.

"I know. It's tragic. I came back in, all wet and my stomach aching from eating about twenty Oreos, and my mom—who is a smart lady even if she drives me nuts—well, she acted like nothing had happened." I paused. Where had I been going with this? Because I was pretty sure I had been going somewhere with this. _Oh, yeah. _Then I shrugged at her. "Which is what you're parents are going to do, too. You know that, right?"

"I do now." She said softly, almost sadly. She looked away from me. I studied her for a second. Something about Bianca just made me feel so…protective. Like I had to help her, like that was my job instead of Black Cross hunter. Bianca Olivier was a normal girl and she didn't deserve to be stuck in the middle of all this craziness. _Even if she can make me spill my guts faster than anybody, even Mom._

"Do you want out of here for real?"

Bianca looked at me again, startled. "Like—run away? Really run away?"

I nodded slowly. What else? She stared at me for a second, looking like she was wondering what mental hospital I came from, and I stared back. Bianca didn't realize just how much danger she was in. Sweet, beautiful, defenseless…perfect pray for the vamps.

Have I mentioned how much I hated those things?

Finally, she gave me a slight smile and said, "No, I don't. I'll go back. Get ready for school like a good girl."

I grinned when she said that; I couldn't help myself. I knew I probably shouldn't tease her, that Eduardo definitely wouldn't think it was mission-appropriate, but it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. "Nobody said anything about being a good girl."

'Embarrassed' really did look great on Bianca. Like I've said before, her eyes sparkled when she blushed, her skin glowed, and she bit her lip nervously. "It's just—Evernight Academy—I don't think I'll ever belong there."

_You don't want to, believe me. _"I wouldn't worry about that. Might be a good thing, not belonging here." I didn't say what I wanted to, that Bianca and people like her would never belong at Evernight. I doubted that that would make her feel any better. It made me feel better, though.

I was watching her, thinking about how, if it weren't for my mission and the fact that she was probably raised by vampires, how she might have belonged…and then she scrambled up off the forest floor, and that idea went out the window. "So what were you doing? When you saw me?"

I stood up, too, wondering about the best way to answer that without lying or revealing too much. I decided to pretend like I hadn't understood the question. "Like I said, I thought you were in trouble. There are some rough characters up in these parts. Not everybody has self-control." I glanced at Bianca when I said that last bit. She didn't even blink. _Either I'm really good at this, or Bianca is really clueless. _I was betting on the second choice. I continued carefully, staying as honest as possible. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. My instincts got the best of me. I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay, honestly. I realize you were trying to help." Well, that was good to know. But she wasn't finished yet. "I meant, before you saw me. Orientation doesn't start for another few hours. It's really early. They told students to arrive around ten A.M." She sounded suspicious, but only a little. Still, maybe Bianca wasn't quite as clueless as I'd thought.

"I've never been very good at playing by the rules." Still avoiding the subject.

"So—you're a morning person, getting a jump on the day?"

_Damn. _She wasn't going to let this go, was she? It looked like I was going to have to either A) Lie. But I did NOT want to lie to Bianca, especially after I had just tackled her. B) Do a little bit of what Dana called "Creative Truth-Telling". "Hardly. I haven't gone to bed yet. Anyway, my mom couldn't bring me herself. She's away, on business, I guess you'd say. I caught the red-eye train in and thought I'd walk up here first. Get the lay of the land. Rescue any damsels in distress."

Well, at least that was _basically_ honest. Bianca smiled at me, and for one bright second I thought that was the end of the awkward questions. And then, "Why did you come to Evernight in the first place?" _Damn. _"I'm stuck here because of my parents, but you could probably have gone someplace else. Someplace better. So, like, anywhere else."

Any question. She could have asked me any question, and that's the one she chose. I almost wished she'd asked about my ex-girlfriends. What could I say? '_I'm here because this school is full of vampires, including the people you believe are your family, and I'm a vampire hunter sent to figure out why humans like you are suddenly being accepted._ I had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. I started marching in the direction of the school, and she followed me. I made sure the branches didn't smack her in the face. If I couldn't be honest with Bianca, at least I could try to be a gentleman. Notice I said "try".

"It's a long story." _Nineteen years long, so please, please don't make say more._

"I'm not in a hurry to go back. Besides, we've got a few hours to kill before orientation."

"It's also kind of a secret." An understatement if there ever was one.

"I can keep a secret. I mean, you're going to keep this whole incident a secret for me, right? With the running and the freaking out—"

"I'll never tell." And that was the truth. It wasn't like I didn't trust Bianca. I trusted her a lot more than I should trust a girl I just met in the woods. But I couldn't tell her the truth, and I thought she would be able to tell if I started lying.

Suddenly, I flashed back to when I was twelve years old. Eduardo had been explaining to Dana and me about the vampires' gathering places. It was the first time I'd ever heard of Evernight. Eduardo was a lecturer, and we had been bored out of our minds. Mom noticed, and she interrupted Eduardo with an amazing story about the first and, at the time, only Black Cross hunter to infiltrate a vampire place of gathering. And I then I knew what I was going to tell Bianca.

"An ancestor of mine tried to go to school here almost a hundred and fifty years ago. He…washed out, I guess you'd say." I chuckled darkly. If 'washed out' meant 'cover totally blown and had to run like hell to avoid getting ripped to pieces' then yeah, my ancestor definitely washed out. "So it's up to me to 'restore the family honor'."

Yes, I'm aware that sounds cheesy and no, I didn't come up with that. It was the last thing my dear stepfather said to me before I left. I think he was trying to be encouraging.

"That's not fair. You shouldn't have to make all your decisions based on what he did or didn't do." _I couldn't agree more. _I liked Bianca. I liked her a lot. I wished I could introduce her Eduardo; she'd drive him more nuts than he already is. Mom would like her though, and Dana and Mr. Wantanabe would love her. _Too bad she'll never be able to meet any of them._

I shook off my dark thoughts and grinned at her. "Not all my decisions. They let me pick out my own socks." I showed her, and she smiled. She really did have one hell of a smile.

"How did you're great-grand-whatever was out?"

I almost didn't tell her, but I decided it wouldn't really make any difference. "He got into a duel in his first week." Hopefully I'd last longer than he did.

"A duel? Like, somebody insulted his honor?" _Sort of, I mean, they accused him of wanting to kill all of them, which was true, and then they all tried to kill him, which couldn't have been very flattering. _Bianca cocked her head to the side, thinking. "Or was it over a girl?"

"He would've had to move fast, to meet a girl in the first few days of school." I realized how stupid that was as soon as I said it. After all, school hadn't even started yet and I'd already met Bianca. Her smile got even wider, as if she could tell what I was thinking. I felt this weird _tug_, like something was pulling me towards. I had the strange urge to put my arm around her shoulders. But of course, I couldn't. If Bianca and I…got involved, and the vamps found out who I really am, well, I didn't even want to think about what they'd do to her. I glared at Evernight, which I was starting to be able to see over the treetops. I decided to keep talking before I did anything stupid. "Could've been anything. Back then, they'd duel at the drop of a hat. Family legend says the other guy started it, not that it matters. What does matter is that he survived but not without breaking one of the stained windows in the great hall."

Bianca's eyes lit up. "Of course. There's one that's just clear glass, and I never understood why."

I nodded. "Now you do. Evernight's been closed to my family ever since."

"Until now."

"Until now. And I don't mind, I think I can learn a lot here." _Like why vamps would be letting humans into one of their most sacred refuges. _"Doesn't mean I have to like everything about it."

"I don't think I like _anything_ about it." Bianca said, but then she blushed and looked down. _Hmmm…_

"I like the gargoyles, the mountains, and the fresh air." Which was extremely true. We'd been stuck in a Black Cross cell (hideout) for two months very recently, and I had a bad case of cabin fever. "That's it so far."

"You like the gargoyles?" She sounded shocked.

"I like it when the monsters are smaller than me." Definitely true.

"Never thought of it that way." And then we reached it. Evernight. And I had to agree with what I'd said to Bianca. This place was spooky. As. _Hell._ "I'm dreading this."

I was, too, but my reasons were probably very different from hers. "Not too late to run, Bianca." I was only half-joking.

"I don't want to run. I just don't want to be surrounded by all these strangers. Around people I don't know, I can never talk or act normal or be myself at all—why are you smiling?"

Was I? I'd been having too much fun watching Bianca babble to notice. "Seems like you know how to talk to me."

Bianca's eyes got huge. "With you—I guess—I think you scared so badly that I got all the fear over with right away."

"Hey, if it works—"

"Yeah." She glanced at Evernight again. "I should go back before my parents realize I'm gone."

_Yes you should. _I still wasn't convinced that her "parents" never did anything to hurt her. "Don't let them hassle you."

"They won't."

I just nodded at her and watched her turn towards Evernight. "See you around, then."

And with that, I strode back into the forest, thinking that maybe this wasn't the worst birthday, after all.

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**Thanks to the many wonderful people who reviewed, this chapter DOES NOT go to the red telletubby. Yay!!!!!!!**

**It's dedicated to: dark_fly, emrb87, Ivoryyy, tinydime, Evernight Freak, JennaBookworm88, CloudedMindx, crazyperson17, Jalyn, slsilver, Tam4eva, purplerandomtwilivic, Isabella, The Red Alligator, 20love2read, and emilyeeelliott. I bet you guys thought I'd forgotten you.**

**REVIEW. OR ELSE.**


	4. Orientation for Hell

**MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS AND ALL ANs!!! IF YOU DON'T YOU MIGHT HAVE A GREAT BOOK SPOILED FOR YOU EVEN THOUGH IT HASN'T BEEN RELEASED YET. That happened to me recently, and I was so pissed at myself. I mean, the AN was very clear that it contained spoilers, but did I read that? NOOOO! Thank you for letting me rant.**

**I'm really sorry for such a long delay and short chapter. I had to do a major-30-percent-of-my-grade-eight-page research paper--that you guys proabably don't care about. It took up most of my time along with a crap load of other tests and homework and life in general. But I turned in my paper yesterday, and it's my birthday so I'm taking a break.**

**This doesn't have much romance in it, and I'm sorry about that, too, for everyone who was waiting for some kind of Lucas and Bianca action. I was going to keep going until I got to the part where lucas sees Bianca with Patrice, but I didn't want to keep y'all waiting any longer. Plus, I wanted to write something really awesome for the first time Lucas meets Vic, cause I love Vic. **

**My last sorry, and then I'll quit, is if the writing gets extremely bad toward the end. I felt bad about not updating this and kinda rushed through that part.**

**This chapter is dedicated to Eb17, CloudedMindx , JennaBookworm88, vampluver19, taz1998, Moon-Lover1994, Miguided-Ghost, xDarakuxShitaxTenshix, crazyperson17, slsilver, XimEisenheim, Isabella, chiquitaess, and supernatural 101, as well as anyone who reviewed who I might have left out, the story alert people, and the ones who've added my story to thier favorites. Thank you.**

**On with the story!**

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I would just like to say to all of you future vampire hunters out there that vamps are nothing if not thorough. And vicious. And twisted. And…well, anyway they're very good at protecting themselves. After I left Bianca, I spent over _two freaking hours_ in tramping through the woods looking for possible escape routes. You know how many I found? One—actually, not even that. A half of one. It was a sort of-almost-kinda path running from Evernight to the river, and from there it was pretty easy to reach Riverton. But that was only to be used as an absolute last resort. The sort of-almost-kinda path led down a steep, rocky hill that was tricky to go down at a regular pace on a sunny day. But if I was running it would be incredibly difficult, and if it was nighttime it would be even harder than that, and if it was both of those and _raining_ I would have to have vampire powers myself to make it down.

_Like that'll ever happen!_

I looked down at my watch. _Damn. _It was almost eight-thirty, orientation time. And how could I possibly miss Mrs. Bethany, queen of the vamps herself, welcoming new students to Hell High? I jogged back towards the school, cursing under my breath when the edge of my coat snagged a tree branch. I yanked on it harshly, creating an enormous rip, which just led to more cursing.

I'm not usually that bad tempered, but you have to understand I had barely slept the night before, and that, coupled with the fact that I hadn't eaten in nearly twelve hours and was more than a little freaked out about this mission, was making me a very unhappy camper.

When I finally reached Evernight I saw a few cars letting off the last of the students. All human, by the looks of them. I followed them in, hoping it would look like I had just been dropped off, too.

The great hall, where the orientation would be held, was an enormous room with a huge spiral staircase and a row of stained glass windows. The glass one, the one my great-whatever-grandfather had broken was at the very end, sticking out like a sore thumb. A bit like the human students were. While the vamps all stood in the middle like the world's most terrifying clique, the humans had been pushed to the side, hovering around the edges of the room with nervous expressions on their faces.

Standing near the doorway, I could see everything except the far corner of the room. I searched through the crowd, hoping to see a flash of red. Poor sweet, shy Bianca was not having an easy time, I was sure. For some crazy reason, I thought that, maybe if Bianca saw me, she would feel a little better. I knew I would.

_But you shouldn't. _

Remember that nasty little voice in my head, the one that sounds like Eduardo? Yeah, it was back.

_Vampires are vicious to humans in general. You won't exactly be popular, and just think of all the awful they might do to her for being your friend. And if you get caught and Bethany finds out you were close…_

"Everyone!" A sharp voice called, cutting off the chatter and little Eduardo. Speak of the devil, it was Mrs. Bethany. She stood at a nearby podium, the evil queen of this terrible castle. "Welcome to Evernight. Some of you have been here before." Yes, the psycho some. "Others will have heard about Evernight Academy for years, perhaps from your families," _That's me!_ I thought darkly. "And wondered if you would ever join our school. And we have other new students this year—the result of a change in our admissions policy. We think it's time for our students to meet a wider range of people, from more varied backgrounds, to better prepare them for the world outside the school's walls. Everyone here has much to learn from the other students, and I trust that you will all treat each other with respect."

I had to hand it to her, this…woman? was great with double meanings. To the average human student—like, say, Bianca—it would only sound like she was singling out the newcomers. Only those in the know, like me, would realize that she was warning the other vampires that this was one glass they couldn't take a sip of.

"At Evernight, we do not treat students as children." Of course they didn't, since I'm sure that there were several students' centuries older than the teachers. It would be kind of hard to treat _them_ like children. "You have come to learn how to function as adults in a twenty-first-century world and that is how you will be expected to behave. Our position in this area requires that we maintain the strictest discipline. We expect much of you." Not only was that bursting with double-meanings, a lot of that was probably recycled from her usual, all-vamp speech. Amazing.

Bethany went on to introduce the faculty. I didn't pay too much attention until she reached the last two teachers, Adrian and Celia Olivier: Bianca's "parents". They didn't look much like her. The missus was pale, sure, and the man's dark hair _might_ have been red, but the resemblance ended there. _That figures. After all, why would Bianca look like them if she was _stolen_? __Duh, Ross. _

It seemed like Bethany was done, so the talking began to pick up again. Then she raised her hand and it immediately stopped. "Classes will begin tomorrow. For today, get settled into your rooms. Meet new classmates. Learn your way around." _Oh, I plan on it._ "We will expect you to be ready. We are glad to have you, and we hope you will make the most of your time at Evernight." I planned on doing that, too.

Apparently, that was the end. People began to drift and the chatter grew even louder than it had been when I walked in. I shifted through the crowd, looking for Bianca. I knew, or at least I felt like I knew, that we would both feel a little better if we had somebody else in this huge crowd. Crazy, right?

I finally saw her, struggling through the throng of people and glancing around herself nervously. I opened my mouth, about to call her, when mini Eduardo got in a parting comment. _Alright, Rossy; go ahead and get the girl. Selfishness does seem to be your dominant quality, doesn't it? _That stopped me cold. I normally try not to listen to Eduardo, real or not, but every once in a while he hits a nerve. If I got close to anybody here, they could get in serious trouble somewhere down the road. Trouble I didn't think Bianca should have to deal with.

On the other hand, she needed somebody to protect her. After all, her "parents" could get bored with her at anytime and leave her to fend for herself. That's what I told myself, at least. But that word continued to echo in my brain. _Selfish, selfish, selfish_; over and over again, like a broken record. So I let her pass me by, unaware.

Somewhere in the middle of introducing the teachers, Bethany had announced that anyone who did not have their paperwork yet needed to go see Mr. Yee after orientation. Since I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, I figured I was anyone.

Mr. Yee wasn't hard to find. He stood right in the middle of the now almost-deserted Hall, surrounded by clamoring students (all human) trying to figure out exactly what paperwork they should have gotten. It was nice to know I wasn't alone in that, at least.

"Enough!" He shouted his deep, powerful voice cutting through the noise. The students shut up instantly, knowing somewhere deep down that he wasn't someone to mess with. Because, of course, Mr. Yee was every bit as much a vampire as Bethany and Bianca's parents. "The paperwork the headmistress mentioned is only your schedule, roommate, and room assignment. Most of you probably already got this. If you did, please leave so I can sort out the rest of you."

Two-thirds of the crowd shuffled out with sheepish expressions, only leaving about twenty of us and Mr. Yee. Of course I didn't have it; the paper was probably passed out while I was still in the woods. "Alright, silence while I attempt to sort this out."

"Sort this out" meant taking a stack of envelopes and reading the names printed on them in a loud voice, and handing them to who they belonged to. No surprise, my envelope was at the very bottom. After Raquel Vargas, a short girl with black hair and a choppy haircut, stalked out Yee turned to me.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you're Lucas Ross." He said with a smile. I nodded back stiffly. I realize he was trying to be friendly, but I was already having a bad enough day without having to make small talk with a vamp. "Here you go. I hope you find your stay here at Evernight extremely educational."

"I hope so." I said truthfully. He patted my shoulder (ugh) and left. Suddenly, I was completely alone but that didn't mean I could let my guard down. I could _never _let my guard down. I opened the envelope and peered at my schedule, curious. Yep, I had an Olivier for a teacher. Actually, I had both; the man for Biology and the missus for History. Interesting. That would be very—interesting.

I looked at my roommate's name. _Vic Woodson_—Woodson, why was that name so familiar? For some reason, I doubted it was the name a vamp the cell had hunted. I shrugged, as long as he wasn't a vamp, things would be just fine.

Then I glanced at my room number. 666. I sincerely hoped that wasn't some kind of sign.

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**Duh duh duuuh. **

**Review, or Marilyn Monroe will kidnap you and take you to stonehenge where Blackbeard will chop you're head off while a computer yells at you about Michael Jackson. (It's a _really _long story.) Pleeeeeaaaaase review.**


	5. Crazy

**Once again, I'm sorry about the wait, but I'm not even going to bother trying to explain this time because you guys probably don't care. Hopefully I be able to post more now that school's almost out.**

**Just want to say something about the change: I felt like the summary was to long and bulky, since it was my first and I didn't really have a clue what I was doing. I'm thinking of changing the title, too, because I never really liked Evernight:as told by Lucas, but it was my first story and I was so excited that I slapped on the first thing that popped into my head. I'm thinking of something like Lucas's Evernight, or maybe something totally different. I'd love if it if you review and tell me if you have any good ideas, or even if you just want to offer your opinion.**

**Okay, you can go ahead and read now.**

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"This place is totally awesome, don't cha think?" By this point, I had my cell phone in my hand, prepared to call every asylum in Philadelphia until I got the one he came from and told them that their most dangerous patient had escaped and was now in Massachusetts.

Believe it or not, I was not alone in the woods with some deranged fruitcake holding a bloody knife (though wouldn't that be just my luck?). Nope, I was standing in my dorm, talking to my new roommate, who was still probably deranged.

Vic Woodson was average height with blonde hair that was somehow a shade lighter than his skin, bright blue eyes, a baseball hat on backwards, and an unnatural obsession with tie-dye. I'm completely serious. Our room was practically drenched in all things tie-dye. Or rather, half of the room was. He had left the right half, which I assumed was mine, untouched, which I sort of respected. But the other half…no, that's not fair. There wasn't all _nearly _as much tie-dye as it seemed. When you first walked in, though; before you noticed all the action movie posters that were still being put up and the surfing stuff, you would swear that a hippie convention had just been held on the left side of the room.

That's definitely what I was thinking when I first stepped in 666. That and _what's with the surfboard? _There was a…wait for it…_tie-dye _surfboard lying across the bed and not a person in sight, even though the door had been wide open. Still, Black Cross trains you to listen sharply, and I could hear somebody breathing.

"Uh…Hello?" I said.

"Huh? Who's that?" A voice asked. All of the sudden there was thump and the surfboard seemed to jump. "Ouch!"

A teenager emerged from the other side of the bed with the board, rubbing the top of his head and wincing.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I'm fine." He muttered, still rubbing his head. "I was under the bed l…um, never mind. Not important. I guess I should introduce myself." He looked at me and grinned sheepishly. He recovered fast and waggled his eyebrows. "The names Woodson. Vic Woodson."

He said that last bit with such a decisively terrible British accent that I couldn't help but chuckle. "Good. I'd hate to have to figure out what some weirdo was doing under my roommate's bed."

Vic laughed. I could tell just by looking at him that he was the kind of person who spent most of his life laughing_. Complete opposite of me, then. _"You must be Lucas Ross."

"Last time I checked." I leaned against the doorframe. "Just out of curiosity, what _were _you doing under your bed?"

"I was looking for my Saint Christopher medal. The chain broke while I was making my bed and I can't figure out where it went."

"You're Catholic?" I wondered. Honestly, I didn't _really _care. I was just trying to make small talk, which, believe it or not, I suck at.

"Nah. But Saint Christopher is the patron of surfers. At least, that's what my uncle used to say. 'Course he spent most of his life plastered, so I'm not sure how true that actually is." He grinned sheepishly. "Anyway, the medal used to be his, but he gave it to me when he taught me to surf." Vic glanced at me. "Were you at Orientation? I don't think I saw you."

"Yeah, but I got there late. I was—exploring, and I lost track of the time." Gotta love Creative Truth-Telling.

"Really? Man, I wish I'd thought of that. I really like the forest. I grew up in Phillie, and I don't think I've ever seen so many trees at one time." He gazed out the window with a somewhat dreamy expression. "Is there, like, any rivers out there or anything?"

"Uh-huh." I nodded, thinking back to the river I'd been looking at when I had first Bianca. Bianca! I instantly forgot about Vic. Questions swirled in my head. Was she OK, had her parents found out about her trying to run away, had she somehow ended up with a vampire roommate? I knew it wasn't any of my business, but I couldn't help it, for a couple of reasons.

The "official" reason: As Black Cross, it was my duty to protect _all_ of the humans from potentially dangerous vampires. Since Bianca was the only one with vamps for "parents", I figured she needed some extra help.

The real reason: I truly liked Bianca. She just seemed so sweet, down-to-earth, and normal, and I hadn't met many people like that in my life. Plus, she was seriously beautiful…

Vic brought me snapped me out of those thoughts with the next words out of his mouth. "This place is totally awesome, don't cha think?"

That was when I realized that my new roommate was off his rocker. "'Awesome' is not the word I'd use to describe it."

"Why not? I'll admit the building is creepy and Mrs. Bethany is one scary senora," _Maybe there is hope for him, after all._ "…and that motto is just plain weird. But there's some pretty great stuff here, too, like the forest. Plus, this place has fencing which is _totally cool _and the gargoyles are freaky in the awesomest way."

Thinking about the gargoyles reminded me of my conversation with Bianca. I grinned at the thought. "Yeah, I do like the gargoyles."

**The next day...**

As a part of Black Cross, I've had my fair share of bad mornings. But my first morning at Evernight is definitely near the top of the list.

Admittedly, it was my first day of school _ever, _so it probably would have been terrible anyway. What I saw in the hallway on my way to my first class was just the icing on the cake.

A flash of dark red caught my eye as I struggled through the masses of people. I glanced over hoping to see Bianca. Unfortunately, I did.

She was walking in the opposite direction of me, talking to a girl next to her. The girl was gorgeous (though not as much as Bianca, in my opinion), with rich dark skin and perfect lips. She also oozed vampire, from her the top of her flawless hairdo to the tips of her manicured toes.

And she seemed way to close to Bianca, a human, for comfort.

_Don't do anything stupid, Ross._ Eduardo was back._ Is one saving one girl worth blowing your cover?_

_Hell, yeah._

_Hell, no. If sacrificing her means figuring out what the vampires want with the human students, that's what you'll have to do. There are too many lives at stake for you to screw around._

_But Bianca's innocent! She doesn't deserve—it's wrong to just—_

_She chose who she's hanging around with. There's nothing you can do about it now._

That was true, as much as it killed me to admit it. Bianca herself had told me she had trouble talking to strangers, but she was getting along just fine with the vampire girl. It seemed that they must have known each other for a while, long enough to become friends, and if they were already close there wasn't much I could do. Definitely nothing I could do without messing up everything.

Still, I hated having to watch someone as sweet as Bianca being corrupted. It just felt so wrong.

_Then don't watch._

I turned and kept walking toward my first class, trying to pretend I hadn't heard her call my name. I hated to do it, but I felt like I didn't have a choice. I guess I must have forgotten how persistent Bianca could be.

"Lucas!" She called again, and I peeked back to see her coming toward me. Her vampire friend was staring after her, giving her a strange look.

I glanced around, hoping for a way out, but no such luck. So I turned back and said a quick, "Hey there," trying to sound like we simply strangers who had bumped into one another in the hallway.

Bianca face looked so hurt that it almost made me change my mind. Almost. Instead I tried to walk away from her as fast as possible before I messed anything else up.

Still, I felt like I owed her a little more than that after tackling her and nearly giving her a heart attack in the woods the day before. I nodded back at her, waved a little, and kept going.

Believe it or not, I'm not usually that rude, especially to girls. Mom raised me right, despite Eduardo. With Bianca, though, it seemed to be the only option I had.

See, usually when a vampire gets friendly with a human, they plan on turning them. I knew that if I got any closer to Bianca, there'd be no way in hell I'd let that happen. Even if that meant I had to blow my cover and leave all the rest of the human students at Evernight undefended, and I just couldn't do that.

That's why I had to walk away from Bianca like I barely knew her, feeling completely disgusted with myself.

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**Here's to my wonderful reviewers foe the last chapter: Immortal42, JennaBookworm88, reverie96, XimEisenheim, crazyperson17, slsilver, Isabella, vampluver19, gleegoddess815, Novel-Nuts, GuardianRose34, Margie22, Dawn, Icy629, and Rachie81. Also, any Story Alerts/Favorites and everybody who's ever reviewed (we broke 50 even without the responses to my AN. WOOOHOOOO!) You guys completely rock, especially if your still reading after I made you wait so long.**

**Special thanks to ..Mind, ikhfek, Margie22, Dawn, Cosmicwave, and Immortal42 for giving me thier opinions about my other story idea.**

**Review or else...uh...just review, please!**


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